Hickenlooper endorses testing reduction bill, challenges opt-outs

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday strongly endorsed a bipartisan bill to streamline state-mandated tests while insisting that Colorado is “not slowing down or going back” on education reforms stretching back decades.

The Democratic governor said at a Capitol news conference Colorado needs to balance a commitment to statewide assessments with higher standards while acknowledging testing anxiety and making sure kids and teachers are not overburdened.

“We want to make sure we don’t let the politics of the moment undermine the long-term best interests of our children – or undermine more than a decade’s worth of hard work to create these education reforms,” Hickenlooper said.

Responding to questions from the media, Hickenlooper also urged against parents and students opting out of the tests, saying those who do “are not doing the kids any favors.”

Hickenlooper appeared at Tuesday’s news conference with business leaders, education reformers and the leadership of both chambers — Senate President Bill Cadman, a Colorado Springs Republican, and House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, a Boulder Democrat.

Hickenlooper did not respond directly to a question about whether he would support that, saying “let’s see how it works out.”

Hickenlooper said the PARCC test itself isn’t too burdensome, and a “relatively small amount of time” goes into preparing students for it. He said the results will be more meaningful if more kids take it.

“This is the first time we’ve done PARCC. Let’s see how it goes,” Hickenlooper said “… To throw something out before you’ve even tried it, after you’ve spent millions of dollars creating it, at least to me doesn’t seem like the wisest course.”

Hickenlooper conceded that he did get lobbied on opting out from another party — his 13-year-old son, Teddy.

The governor said upon completing his first day of PARCC testing, Teddy returned to “ask if he might opt out.”

“He had heard it was going to be hard,” Hickenlooper said. “I said, A, don’t get wrapped up in the test. Life is full of tests. You are going to be tested day in and day out. This is one of many tests you’ll have in your life and enjoy it. Go out and be the best that you can.”

The Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, issued a statement criticizing S.B. 215 for not going far enough.

“SB-215 takes a few, tentative steps toward easing the testing burden for some students, but it’s largely a bill of cosmetic changes. Most parents across the state will be left asking, ‘How does this help my child?’ CEA president Kerrie Dallman said in a statement. “Our education system is infected with obsessive testing and our students and educators are expecting a full recovery from what ails them. Legislators have heard serious concerns from their constituents. They can’t offer serious answers with a bill that only skims the surface of the testing dilemma.”

A.Standardized tests fail to accurately measure knowledge; rather, results can be predicted based on income and race. . The tests are snapshots, and don’t take into account other factors: ability to navigate a computer; having an “off” day, being tired/sick; having issues outside the classroom, etc. High school GPAs are a more reliable predictor of college readiness than the SAT, another prominent standardized text. And, as per American Statistical Association (ASA) findings, evaluating teachers based on students’ standardized test scores is highly questionable.

SB-191 forces teachers to teach to the test because their job depends on it. Parents will tell you, starting January, many schools shift gears and focus only on the test, and HOW to answer the questions on the test.

Assessments have their place. However, Colorado exceeds Federal minimum of testing and everyone agrees, we are over testing our kids. With so many tests scattered throughout the year, (PARCC is being given twice annually ten you have CMAS and READ Act, And Kindergarten readiness (TSGOLD) <===all state or federally mandated and schools and teachers being graded on these tests, our schools have become test prep factories. WHAT HAPPENED TO LOCAL CONTROL? Any teacher will tell you, testing is not teaching and achievement is not assessment.

B. A Denver Alliance Parent Survey found that 96% of parents responding would prefer NO or fewer state assessments. Additionally, the majority of parents reported not receiving feedback or often did not even see results of these tests. Many plan to have their children opt-out of state testing.

C. CEA SURVEY "A recent survey of 2,700 Colorado teachers across all grade levels reveals they spend 16 hours each week on test related activities." Teachers in this survey also do NOT VALUE CMAS, TCAP or PARCC, as the results are not timely, the tests do not inform instruction.

D. APA Assessment Study Report from HB14-1202 Standards and Assessments Task Force, found that teachers do not value state assessments and rate TCAP, CMAS (PARCC) as an overall 1.2 out of 5. *It is worth noting that the 1202 task force failed to account for necessary capital expenses, and is unclear in its calculation of student- and district-level averages.

E. COST: SB10-191 is unfunded and was a $4.3 million (JBC page 53, item 15), cost to the state in 2014 alone, does not include cost to districts and schools which CDE admits is substantial. Schools have had to hire additional staff, even more principals to evaluate, process evaluations. This cost analysis does not include time lost or user fee associated with RANDA's Elevate Colorado. CDE reports that "it is likely that the costs for the RANDA Online Performance Management System would need to be passed to districts to support ongoing license fees; and user fees would need to be charged for the Elevate Colorado online inter-rater agreement system." (NOTE: Many parents are uncomfortable with the classroom surveillance video aspect of RANDA teacher evaluation.)

F. PARCC collects data on children. NO question:see Pearson's data collection on Colorado CMAS contract and PARCC contract and video of PARCC representative here. Pear$on holds the contracts to all Colorado CMAS and PARCC data but CDE can decides who sees/uses that data. CDE also colelcts optional data (including biographical personal data) for Pearson, see pg 32 here. Pearson was also caught spying on children's internet posts like twitter and facebook, seepg 314 of contract between Colorado Dept Ed and PARCC for said "internet monitoring". Replace PARCC–write our own test, based on standards Colorado values, and include privacy policy detailing that only educational data (no pyscho social, biographic, emotional, behavioral algorithms) will be collected.

HOW ABOUT WE STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY ON TESTS WE DON'T VALUE, AREN'T PROVEN TO HELP KIDS, AND INSTEAD, SPEND MONEY ON TEACHING every KID. Smaller classrooms with more teachers, hold teachers accountable to TEACHING not TESTING.

Colorado Classroom provides ground-level reporting on what’s going on in the state’s public schools and on college campuses, looking at people, places, issues, trends and innovative approaches to education.